Just today I saw an advertisement in the American Craft Magazine. I didn't
catch the name of the artist/gallery. It is in the current issue, which I was
reading at the library. An artist had designed new handles for
gardening/farming tools (ie. hoes, pitchforks, shovels, rakes,etc) The handles
had been redesigned as totems. (see def.)

1 a : an object (as an animal or plant) serving as the emblem of a family or
clan and often as a reminder of its ancestry; also : a usu. carved or painted
representation of such an object
b : a family or clan identified by a common totemic object

They were sculptures to hang on the wall, but possibly you could have kids
draw/paint the new handles and add color and pattern? Maybe the new handles
could be designed as ceremonial? decorative? theme based? Maybe you could work
in groups and actually paint or alter the handles of actual tools? Seeing
these made me think about lots of ideas for my high school sculpture class.
Just an thought...
Marcia

Doesn't Andrew Wyeth have some paintings with farm implements? (I'm not his
biggest fan but the subject brings him to mind.) If you can gather some up,
why not just do drawings? Seems like they would be great for contour
drawing.
Linda in Michigan

LiteSal wrote:

> Dear Colleagues,>> A third grade teacher colleague of mine, left a note on my desk this> morning, asking how I feel about doing an art lesson dealing with "farm> implements." I am truly uninspired and, therefore, don't know how I feel> about it!! Any ideas?>> Thanks, Leah